Ann Arbor woman heard 'firecracker' noises as Nigerian man attempted to light explosives on airplane

Veena Saigal kisses her 10-month-old granddaughter, Zola, as her husband, Romesh, looks on at their home in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Mark Bialek | For AnnArbor.com

Suddenly, Saigal - in row 13 - heard a sound like a firecracker from behind.

“I thought maybe something happened with the window,” said Saigal, who has lived in Ann Arbor for 23 years. “After a few seconds, I smelled smoke.”

Saigal was one of 278 passengers aboard the plane when a Nigerian man, who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaida to blow up the airliner, attempted to light an explosive device.

At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.

Other passengers began rushing toward the front of the plane as flight attendants tried to get them to sit down, Saigal said. She remained seated.

Saigal watched as passengers and crew members pushed the man - identified as 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - toward the front of the plane. She said it appeared they restrained him with something after seating him in the front of the plane; she could not see the extent of his injuries.

Multiple law enforcement officials said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive was strapped there. According to the FBI, Abdulmutallab had a device containing what’s believed to be PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a high explosive. FBI agents also recovered what appear to be the remnants of a syringe from the vicinity of Abdulmutallab’s seat, believed to have been part of the device, a press release said.

Melinda Dennis, who was seated in the front row of the plane, said the man’s legs appeared to be badly burned, and his pants were cut off. She said he was taken off the plane handcuffed to a stretcher.

Veena and husband Romesh Saigal, front, pose with their daughter Ashima, son Shailesh, and son-in-law David, back right, in their Ann Arbor home on Saturday.

Mark Bialek | For AnnArbor.com

Abdulmutallab was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center for his injuries, but no update on his medical condition was available Saturday afternoon.

All those on board the plane applauded the heroic passenger when the incident ended, Saigal said.

“I knew what it was right away - some kind of terrorist attack,” Saigal said. “I thought, ‘OK, the bomb didn’t go off.’ I wasn’t really scared, and no one else really looked that scared. There were a lot of children on the plane, and some were crying.”

Passengers were ordered to stay seated when the plane landed until police could come on board and take the man into custody. Passengers were then allowed off and corralled into an area near the baggage claim at Detroit Metro Airport.

There, the situation grew frustrating for the tired passengers as they waited to be individually interviewed.

Saigal said they were told not to use their phones, but she was able to call her husband to alert him that she would be delayed.

After spending a month in India visiting her brother, she was looking forward to seeing her children and infant granddaughter for Christmas - but they had to wait.

“It was very frustrating,” Saigal said. “We were begging them to tell the people out waiting for us that something happened, but I don’t think they ever did.”

One woman began crying. Authorities questioned each passenger about someone videotaping on the plane - Saigal said she didn’t see anyone with a camera. Police dogs sniffed everyone’s carry-on luggage.

“I was very tired,” said Saigal, who switched planes in Amsterdam for the final eight-hour leg of the trip home. “Everyone was so tired.”

About six hours after the plane landed, Saigal was released to her waiting children. The family decided to go out for Chinese food - the only thing open - and then returned home to catch up on news of the incident on CNN and online.

Saigal said she hadn’t noticed the man accused of the attempted terrorist attack before the incident.

One law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Abdulmutallab’s name had surfaced earlier on at least one U.S. intelligence database, but he was not on a watch list or a no-fly list.

Federal officials said there would be heightened security for both domestic and international flights at airports across the country, but the intensified levels would likely be “layered,” differing from location to location depending on alerts, security concerns and other factors.

Saigal, who travels to India about once a year, said she’s never encountered a problem while traveling before, beyond typical delays.

“It was definitely the strangest and worst thing I’ve had happen,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Amalie Nash is the news director for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at amalienash@annarbor.com amalienash@annarbor.com or 734-623-2521.